A Blonde Blitzer's Green-haired Esper
by Riny Beoulve
Summary: My approach to a different Terra x Sabin, starting from when Terra and Sabin first meet. Chapter 3 up!
1. First Teaching

"Brother?!" I heard the green haired girl shout walking next to me. "I thought he was some musclehead who strayed from his gym!"  
  
I laughed and walked towards my brother. I pretended to get mad at her, but then said "I guess I'll take that as a compliment." I heard her giggle behind me.  
  
So, they were going to see Banon. They had a new recruit for the Returners too I guess. I wasn't an official member, but seeing that Edgar is, I sorta got dragged into it, but never took action.  
  
Aww, what the hell? "Why not have a bear like me join?" I asked.  
  
"You'd join us?" Edgar asked excitedly. I nodded.  
  
We continued through the last bit of Mt. Kolt. I learned the green-haired girl was named Terra. But from watching her in battle, she had Magic. Yeah…Magic…from the War of Magi a thousand years ago. No wonder they were bringing her to see Banon. The Empire was probably after her. I was talking to Locke on the way there, while Edgar was in lead and Terra was quiet. "What's the story about her?" I asked.  
  
"You know Arvis in Narshe right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I was at the Returner's Hideout and I got a message from Banon, who got a message from Arvis, saying that he needed help. That she needed help. But Banon just told me that Arvis needed to see me. So when I got there, he told me there was a girl that he wanted me to meet, and I ended up saving her. With some help from Moogles though."  
  
Terra slowed down and walked with the three of us. "What's Banon like?" She asked softly.  
  
"He's pretty nice," I said.  
  
"Yeah," Locke agreed. "But not much of a fighter."  
  
I laughed. "He never has been. That's why the Returner's aren't the most active and put together group around."  
  
"Rhinotaur!" I heard Edgar yell to us. We jumped in and helped him.  
  
Afterwards, Terra walked with me and talked to me. "What kind of attacks are those?"  
  
"Blitz," I replied a bit exhausted from my Suplex attack.  
  
"Where'd you learn it?"  
  
"From my master Duncan, after years of training. Trust me…lots of training!" I laughed.  
  
"So that's not something you could probably teach me?" She asked looking up at me curiously.  
  
I looked down at her. "You really wanna learn that bad?"  
  
"Well, it seems interesting enough…"  
  
"Well, I can start you off with some basic techniques, but nothing like this. But that's where it all starts."  
  
"Really?" She asked. "You will?"  
  
"Sure," I said smiling at her as we approached the Returner's Hideout.  
  
My brother led us into the cave, Locke sort of taking Terra by the hand. So Locke finally found someone over Rachel? Good. Although, something inside made me feel otherwise. With Edgar leading, we walked to Banon's large 'room', though the whole place was a cave. I could only watch their conversation, but felt guilt overwhelmingly. How could Banon be so harsh with such a young and confused girl. According to Locke, she was only starting to recover from amnesia. Oh, how I wanted to tell them to shut up! But I couldn't. I agreed with Edgar and Banon, though like Locke, I think they were being a bit harsh. However, unlike them, I'm too quiet.  
  
Ok, it's expected, give me a break. I've been training mostly by myself. The only words I spoke were of confusion when practicing my technique. Other then that, I had little need to use words. Of course, my brother is better. He had taken over as King of Figaro, so he had to act as a diplomat. My thoughts drifted to a time back then. A time where we were both princes, though most of the time even before father died, I had been training with him. My brother had sent me word that father was becoming more ill. Quickly explaining to Duncan, he let me go back to Figaro. I arrived there the day before he died. It was just as terrible as when Mom died, except everyone was more concerned of a successor then the death. Mom…  
  
My thoughts drifted even farther, as I found myself walking back in the small meeting hall. Mom…she had been such a sweet person. And I loved her so much. I remember overhearing a conversation between her and Dad.  
  
"Mariel, I just don't think sending Sabin away from the castle is a good idea!"  
  
"I think it is. Sabin is far more into playing, and being outside then Edgar is. Edgar would be so much more suited to succeed, I think, while Sabin would love the freedom and strength," Mom replied.  
  
There was a silence. A silence which I though, Is it fair for them to be deciding my destiny?  
  
"We'll see…" Dad replied. "It would make more sense to talk to the boys about this, they get the most choice."  
  
"Of course! I wouldn't want that any other way! I'll talk to Sabin tomorrow. My old master Duncan would be thrilled to take him as a pupil, I think."  
  
"Sabin?" I heard a soft confused voice ask.  
  
I opened my eyes and looked down. "Terra! What's up?"  
  
"I'm just…confused…" she said softly.  
  
Of course, I thought, resting a hand on her shoulder. You've only just regained your memory, and they're burdening you. For a split second, I almost felt hatred towards Banon and my brother. I wanted to protect her from all of it. I remember a time when I was once weak and confused, yet I couldn't be because I was the prince of Figaro. "I know," I whispered softly to her.  
  
She looked up at me with a couple tears rolling down her face. "I really don't know what to do…Edgar said that he wants my help, but can't force me to do anything, because then you guys would be no different from the Empire."  
  
"Well one thing," I said to her. "You can trust me brother. But don't tell him I said that!" I laughed.  
  
She smiled a little, but then it quickly went away as fast as it had came. "But I don't know what to do…Locke told me that I should do what's right…but…I don't know what's right and wrong…"  
  
"Terra, listen…" I said to her softly, trying to comfort her, as I had Mom on her deathbed. "Let me give you your first lesson ok? For you, whatever your heart feels strongly about is right. It's hard at first, hell it's hard all the time! But that's how you need to make choices…from what this says…" I said taking the hand that wasn't on her shoulder placing it over her heart through her red cotton dress. "Whether it says to help the Returners, or to walk away from them, is up to it…up to you. But you need to follow out with what you think, even if it is an indescision…"  
  
I watched the green-haired girl place both of her hands on mine that was over her heart. She looked down at it and closed her eyes. I just watched her. Suddenly she dropped her hands and looked at me. Her cheeks were still stained, but her eyes sparkled. "Thanks Sabin," she said. "You just helped me make my decision."  
  
"Nah," I said pulling my arms back. "I just directed you how to find it. Like I said, it was your first lesson. Because in order to fight, you need be mentally prepared before you are physically."  
  
She started walking back outside where Banon was, then looked over her shoulder. "Thanks," she smiled. The thanks was nice, but the smile was all I needed.  
  
"Anytime Terra!" I called back.  
  
A bit later, Banon called to order a meeting. I looked at my green-haired girl across the table as Banon babbled, something he was so good at doing!  
  
Until suddenly, "Banon…!" We heard a week voice cry, coming from the entrance. The four of us, along with Banon, jumped up and ran over, as several other Returners joined us. We listened to the Returner talk about the Empire.  
  
"We need someone to get into South Figaro," Edgar said.  
  
"Right, and I'm just the person!" Locke laughed a bit despite the dire situation. He always has a knack for doing that. But knowing Locke, he's probably not laughing inside, but already planning his move in South Figaro. Locke looked at Terra, and then my brother. "You guys can't stay here,"  
  
"Right," Edgar agreed, already on top of that. "We'll leave on Lete River, and head for Narshe. Go there once you're done in South Figaro."  
  
Locke nodded, and then turned to Terra. "And don't let some young king who will remain nameless onto you!"  
  
Locke grinned as Edgar shouted his name.  
  
"Come on," Banon said. "Let's go." He and Edgar went off.  
  
I watched Terra closely as she looked at Locke with a bit of concern. "Now now," he said. "Don't worry about me. Sabin'll protect you for me in my place won't you?"  
  
"Of course," I nodded looking between the thief…err..treasure hunter and the green-haired girl.  
  
"Then go now," Locke said sneaking out quietly, on his way to South Figaro.  
  
"Come on," I encouraged her. She nodded and grabbed my arm. I wondered if she had done that with Locke and it comforted her, and since Locke sort of made me her guardian, I would do whatever I could for her. So I took her hand as we dashed back to Banon's room, then headed south. Terra clutched onto me, and clung to my side as she heard the shrill screams of the Returners and shouts of the Empire's soliders. I rested my other hand on her, trying so hard to calm the quiet but upset girl as the raft wildly went down the river. Edgar took lead, then Banon, though in the back row, and I stood guard protectively over Terra.  
  
She began to calm down, though then we encountered a strange purple octopus whose name was Ultros. He hated my Blitz attacks, but hated Terra's Fire Magic even more. "Yeoch! Sea food soup!" He said every time she used it. I chuckled everytime I wasn't preparing for a Blitz attack.  
  
And then suddenly he disappeared into the water. Terra looked over the edge of the raft. "Eww! Something's stuck to my leg!"  
  
"Here," Banon said. "Come into the middle of the raft. You'll be fine." So I jumped and pulled her towards the middle. Edgar and Banon stood by her as I looked at the water.  
  
"That's it!" I shouted. "I'm gonna do a Blitz on it!" It hurt my Terra! Wait, did I really just put a possessive 'my' in front of her name?  
  
Edgar jumped in shock as I jumped into the water with a Blitz against Ultros. I heard Terra call out for me, and Edgar said something.  
  
I pushed my way under the water, attempting to pummel the damn Octopus. But, he being a beast of water, had a far more advantage. He spun around, causing waves to form around me, then attacked me with one of the tentacles, pushing me into the air, over the raft.  
  
"Sabin!" I heard her voice cry for me again. I looked at her and saw her hand reaching out to me. I saw my brother holding her back. As soon as I fell into the water, I quickly tried to swim back to the raft, using her to push me forward. But the currents were too quick. The raft pushed another way, while they pushed me under the water. The last thing I remember was Terra calling out my name again as I blacked out. 


	2. Blitz's Infatuation

I came to…where the hell was I? It didn't look like any place I had ever been. I walked towards a small lone house. Walking inside, the guy swore I was a repairman. He kinda freaked me out, so I walked back outside and laughed.  
  
I approached a man dressed in all black, with a large black dog by his side. "Hey, do you know how to get to Narshe from here?" I asked.  
  
"You need to go through Doma, but there's an Imperial Soldier camp on the way there."  
  
"Hey, you wanna join up with me?" I suggested. He seemed to know where he was, while me on the other hand, didn't have a clue!  
  
"All right, but just remember that I may leave at any time." I learned his name was Shadow and his dog was Interceptor. I think I've seen him before. At least I've seen the dog.  
  
So we headed south to a small desert and hid behind a broken brick wall. Shadow and I listened to a couple Troopers talk about Kefka. Kefka…I'll do him in good. He's insane and needs to be stopped! I'm sure that's why Mom wanted me to train…so I could protect. I promise then Mom, I promise to protect the world…and protect Terra from anything that'll hurt her.  
  
Shadow nudged me to look over the wall. A Commander approached the two soldiers and told them that were to help in the attack against Doma. After the soldiers left, Shadow and I went to a tent to the left of us. Inside was a treasure chest. I tried to open it, but it was jammed. So I kicked it, which made a really loud noise. The two of us jumped on the other side of the treasure chest and ducked down, hoping the soldier we heard running here wouldn't see us. "Who's there?!" The soldier gruffly yelled.  
  
Crap! I thought. That's it! We're screwed over! Then I'm not getting back to Narshe…  
  
Then Shadow suddenly let out a very close-to-cat-like meow. I looked at him and blinked.  
  
But Shadow's plan worked! The soldier mistook us for a cat and walked away. We jumped back over and opened up the chest, which had been loosened, from my kick. After we grabbed the contents, we quickly dashed back to where we were, and went a little bit further, now hiding behind a different pile. There we saw General Leo lecturing a soldier about not poisoning Doma. He sounded so humane, so much unlike Kefka. How could he possibly be a General to the Empire? "He could be my friend…" I muttered. "If he weren't my enemy."  
  
A soldier approached General Leo, with a letter from the Emperor. He was being summoned back to the capital, so he went into a small tent to get his stuff. We stood up, thinking there was no danger, until we heard Kefka's infamous laugh. Quickly, we jumped back down, peeking behind the pile.  
  
Leo came back out with a bag over his shoulder. "Kefka, I have to go. Don't do anything foolish," Leo walked off past us, and luckily didn't see us.  
  
Suddenly Kefka laughed again. "Ready the poison!"  
  
"But General Leo just said…"  
  
"Leo isn't here anymore! I'm in charge! Get the poison ready! They are traitors in Doma understand?!"  
  
"But there are some of own people in there!"  
  
"Kill them all!" Kefka started walking towards us.  
  
That was it. I had it. I jumped up and walked in front of Kefka, Shadow joining me. He put on a big dramatic scene, but ran the second Shadow or me attacked him.  
  
"Kefka! Wait!" I shouted jumping towards him getting into my Blitz stance, readying myself to launch an Aura Bolt at him.  
  
"Wait he says," Kefka laughed. "Do I look like a waiter?" And just as I was about to pull of my Blitz on him, he ran. Gah! I dashed after him frustrated as hell. Shadow followed right next to me. Here the little SOB was, so close! Yet I couldn't get off any damage to him! Especially for hurting my Terra-damnit! Did I just put the my in front of it again? I should stop doing that, especially since she isn't even near me. Oh Edgar, Banon, please keep her safe!  
  
After this little unsuccessful game of cat and mouse, Kefka finally got some of his troops on us. It held us back enough to lose sight of him. After felling the troops, we walked ahead in pursuit of Kefka. Instead of finding the insane crackpot, we found a middle-aged man in deep blue armor, screaming something about Doma, and fighting off some soldiers.  
  
"Who the hell is he?" I asked.  
  
"Beats me," Shadow replied.  
  
"Ahh, he's fighting the Empire, works for me." We went up to him, helping him fight off the troops. This continued for a couple more times, until I finally convinced him that we needed to get out, or we'd get the whole army down our throats!  
  
"So where now?" He asked.  
  
"This way," I said. "I got an idea." The man and I walked north, while Shadow went south, already knowing my plan.  
  
"What!" He exclaimed as I told him to get into the magitek armor. "I can't operate this thing!"  
  
"Just get in!" I exclaimed pushing him in.  
  
"Is this how you operate this Sir Sabin?" He asked, making the magitek armor walk around in circles.  
  
I suddenly found myself talking like him and laughed. I jumped into the other magitek armor as Shadow walked towards us. The man then ran over a couple soldiers.  
  
"All right, good enough!" I said. With a quick introduction, we were off trying to escape the way we came. Fighting was quite easy in the magitek armor, but I couldn't do my blitz. In a way, it made me miss Terra even more. Good, I didn't put the my in front of her name this time. She had become fascinated with my Blitz, and using it, made me remind me of her. But now…  
  
I shook my head and jumped out of the magitek armor, Shadow and Cyan, the Retainer of Doma, followed me. "Say, how do you get to Narshe from here?" I asked him as we ran away from the camp.  
  
"Hmm…we could go south through the forest…" Cyan began.  
  
"Good enough for me!" I shouted, impatient to run again. Though soldiers were not pursuing us, I felt better if we got the farthest away we could before night fell and we were forced to set up a camp.  
  
Once we were all exhausted, which was long before nightfall, we fell to the green grass. I layed on the grass and closed my eyes, feeling the sun fall against my face. It warmed me gently, reminding me of my…damnit! Why am I so in love with her? Why? Oh brother, please take care of her for me. I need to see her again. I want to be near her again. This feeling is burning so much inside me, yet I just met her. Oh Terra…my sweet sweet Terra…please be ok…oh please…  
  
We didn't set up a tent, just built a campfire and rested beneath the stars under a couple blankets. The warmth of the orange flame…the whiteness of the stars…the crispness of the green long grass…and the large towering trees. It seemed so great. And yet, something ran through me for a second, what if it all vanished? What if all those conservatists are right, that if we don't do something, we'll lose this grass and these trees… Of course I'll never admit it fully, but I love nature…If only Terra was here with me. I wonder though…she probably doesn't love me back. But that's ok. As long as she knows I'm here as a friend…it's all good…  
  
Oh Terra… 


	3. Mr. Thou? Mr. Thou!

As one would almost expect because of my infatuation with her, she was in my dreams. She was dressed in her normal red dress with a long blue blade in her hand. She was in front of a barren town, which appeared to be destroyed. "Mama!" A little girl cried.  
  
"Get back inside!" Terra yelled back at her. The little girl ran inside and Terra suddenly morphed into a pink…thing, is the only word I can use to describe it!  
  
I awoke long before Cyan or Shadow were. Dawn was just appeared. Terra…what horrific thing happened to Terra? Why was it so barren? Probably because I was thinking about nature before I fell asleep right? I hope so.  
  
Once Cyan and Shadow awake, we headed south to this forest Cyan told me of yesterday. It was a bit confused, and a bit odd, with ghosts attacking us, but we found our way to a train station. I wondered where it went. "Come on! Let's get on!"  
  
"Wait! Sir Sabin…!" Cyan exclaimed, trying to stop me, but I got onto the train anyway, and went into the first car. Shadow followed me.  
  
I looked around, and Cyan dashed in and the train started to move. I saw a horrified look on his face as he asked me, "Do you know where this train goes?"  
  
"No," I replied.  
  
"It goes to the other side…It brings people…who are…"  
  
"What?" I exclaimed, now pissed off at myself for my stupidity. "I can't go there yet! I have things to do here! I have to get to Narshe!"  
  
"I'm afraid we all have to go there eventually…"  
  
"Yeah, but mine isn't now! We gotta get off of this!" I exclaimed even louder, probably waking up the dead. Bad pun, bad time.  
  
"Well, then let's go to the front of the train." I nodded, and the three of us began heading towards the front.  
  
It's rather uneventful, as you would expect on a train full of dead people, but for a train full of dead people, it was pretty active. In almost every car, there was a ghost selling us items, and a ghost or two that wanted to join us. We could only have one ghost join us though, more then that would slow us down significantly. All the other ghosts however, wanted to kill us. Probably envious of the living, like what Master taught me.  
  
We went inside a car, and walked up and down, finding no other exits or entrances. So we attempted to go back out the way we came in, except there were a few ghosts trying to stop that. We killed them and went outside.  
  
But to our dismay, whole flocks of them started walking towards us, surrounding us. We were forced to climb onto the roof as they hauntedly said "N.O. E.S.C.A.P.E." And then, they started to follow us onto the top of the car!  
  
We walked toward the front of the train as far as the roof would go. "Oh no! What're we going to do?!" Cyan exclaimed. I carefully looked at the distance between the roof of our car, and the next one. It looked jumpable…at least it was less then the time I had to jump across a giant gap at Mt. Kolt.  
  
"Well, let's see if my training's done anything. Cyan, grab onto me. Shadow, follow me." Cyan grabbed my arm as we jumped across a couple of the cars, until we landed on one where the roof collapsed on us and we fell down. We stood up and looked around, and then all of a sudden…  
  
Those god damn ghosts were there again with their little chant! "We have to disconnect the cars," I said walking inside. I flipped a switch down, then walked back outside, quite happy to see the cars and the ghosts slip out of our sight.  
  
We walked back in, flipping the switch again. It was rather funny to see Cyan go beserk through this whole time, because everytime I flipped a switch, he would flip out at me. Ha! He's just afraid of machines!  
  
Moving on, we found a dining car. Rather strange for a train full of ghosts, but their food was still edible. "You're actually going to eat that?!" Cyan exclaimed.  
  
"Sure!" I laughed. "Can't wage war on an empty stomach!"  
  
After eating, the engine was just ahead. We flipped around a couple of switches, and then climbed up to the top of the engine. Naturally the Phantom Train got pissed at us, which is pretty funny for a train, and why the hell I'm so hyper, I don't know. So we had to attack it. I must say, this was the most interesting battle I've ever been in in my life. We had to run in front of the train, yet somehow turn around to attack him and not get run over! The battle didn't last long though, because Shadow discovered that he was easily killed by a Pheonix Down by accident. He was trying to revive Cyan who had just fallen, and his aim sucked.  
  
"Fine, I will let you get off, but there is one more thing I must do first," The Phantom Train told us.  
  
It let us back off at the station, and we jumped off content that we were still alive. But I suddenly saw Cyan's jaw drop and looked over. "The people of Doma!" Cyan exclaimed as the line of people who died in the Doma poisoning went into the Phantom Train. So, this was what the Phantom Train had to do…he had to bring the people of Doma to the other side.  
  
I watched in horror as Cyan ran along the path, trying to follow the train as his wife and son slipped further and further away from him. I closed my eyes and wondered, what would it be like if I saw Edgar slip away like that? I watched Mom and Dad slip away…but not like this…  
  
After the train went by, Cyan still remained there looking down, I went to approached him, but Shadow shook his head and said, "Give him some time." I nodded and waited a bit, until finally, he turned around and nodded. We left the Phantom Forest.  
  
Going east, we found a place called Barren Falls. We walked up to the top and looked down the waterfall. We could jump…I thought. Where else would we go? We couldn't go through the Phantom Forest again, and if we did we'd probably have Imperial Soldiers down our throats anyway. Jumping was our only way.  
  
"This is where I go," Shadow said.  
  
I nodded. As he walked away I said, "I hope we can work again sometime. Thanks for the help." He just nodded and walked away.  
  
It was then just Cyan and I. We looked at each other and nodded, then jumped down the waterfall. Of course, as my luck would have it, we were attacked by what looked like massive shrimp. Cyan used his SwordTechniques on him, while I blitzed the hell out of them with Aura Bolt. And without fail, everytime I performed the technique, I thought of the green-haried girl.  
  
After fighting a pink massive shrimp monster, I just remember falling under the water and passing out. When I came to, I was on a grassy beach and there was a young teenage boy with green hair wrapped in monster hides it looked like. I tried to talk to him, but he uttered some nonsense and ran off.  
  
Cyan and I walked around a bit after healing ourselves with tonics and potions. I quickly found out that we were on the Veldt. The Veldt is the place where monsters of the world gather. Strong massive monsters are also here, but typically, only monster types that you have killed will wind up attacking you. Do they somehow know that you attacked and killed one of their type? It's so odd. But knowing that we were on the Veldt, I also knew that Mobliz was on the northeastern cape of this area. So we set out there, to see if anyone could help us get to Narshe.  
  
On our way there, after we kept fighting beasts and monsters, the kid kept randomly appearing, begging for meat. We just let him run off, because we didn't have any.  
  
Once we arrived in Mobliz, we asked around, seeing if anyone knew how to get to Narshe. One man told us that the only way to get there would be to go to Nikeah, and from Nikeah take a boat to South Figaro, and from there the way would be easy. However, to get to Nikeah, we needed to go through the Serpent Trench, which is a water current. He then explained to us that the breathing equipment was recently stolen, so there was no way to get to Nikeah.  
  
So Cyan and I brainstormed, and the only thing we could come up with was that kid. So we asked around about the kid, and heard from someone that when they threw in some dried meat in a pack of wild beasts, he appeared. So we went to the item shop and got some dried meat, and walked back out to the Veldt.  
  
After fighting around a bit, he appeared as he had before. I threw the kid some meat, and he began to ramble on.  
  
I honestly forget what Cyan said, but it was something with his normal "thou", which made the kid, Gau, spaz out. He started jumped around calling me Mr. Thou. "He's Mr. Thou!" I exclaimed. Gau started to laugh, and we ended up in a game of chase around in circles, with Cyan watching us. We stopped for a few seconds. "This kid's…good…" I said a bit out of breath. And we went at this little 'game' again, until he suddenly stopped and started laughing. I stopped after going around one more time and gasped for breath a bit exhausted.  
  
I then looked over to my right and saw Cyan looking down. I then saw Gau approach him. "You mad at me?" he asked. He asked this two more times, and then I dragged him away.  
  
"Look," I said a bit annoyed with him. "He just lost family."  
  
I watched as he went back up to Cyan and apologized.  
  
"It's all right," Cyan said turning around.  
  
"Uwaooo Treasure mine!" Gau exclaimed.  
  
"Treasure…?" I asked in confusion.  
  
"Shiny! Shiny! Shiny!" He exclaimed.  
  
"Can anything be that shiny?" Cyan asked.  
  
"Imagine how jealous Locke'll be if he heard this," I muttered to myself.  
  
"Locke? He steal my treasure? He bad man?"  
  
"Now hang on! Hey!" I exclaimed as Gau began to spin around. "Listen when people are talking to you!"  
  
"I think he's trying to tell us something…" Cyan said calmly. I nodded and stepped back.  
  
He finally stopped and said "Place where you by food called Mobliz! And now place we go Crescent Mountain! Treasure there!" And so Gau and Cyan started walking away.  
  
I closed my eyes and looked at the grass below me. I was so tired, and now I had to put up with this little rascal. Cyan I can deal with…but not Gau. I just want Terra…  
  
"Mr. Thou!" Gau exclaimed stopping and looking at me. "You coming?"  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you?! I'm not Mr. Thou!!!" And I chased after him as he laughed.  
  
We went south to Crescent Mountain and walked inside a big cave. "In here?" I asked.  
  
Gau started crawling around. Cyan and I looked at each other extremely confused. "So where is this treasure?" I asked.  
  
"Me forget!" Gau exclaimed standing up.  
  
Cyan and I both groaned. "Well, let's start looking around," he said. I nodded in agreement.  
  
We went towards the left to a little area. Gau started crawling around again and handed me a tonic. "This is your treasure?" I asked. "A tonic?"  
  
Gau shook his head no, so we continued looking.  
  
Leaving Cyan on the other side, Gau and I crossed a small rocky bridge to search for his treasure there. Instead, he found it quite a joke to steal one of my money-satchels with 500 GP and throw it off the cliff! This kid's already bugging me enough as it is!!! I don't need him throwing away money that's helpful to us damnit! I probably would've thrown him off the cliff, but we did need that breathing mask because we had to get back to Narshe. If we could get to Nikeah…then we could take a ship to South Figaro…and from there…  
  
"Come, let's go," Cyan said, beckoning us to come back across the tippity bridge and continue on.  
  
I had almost given up, until Gau suddenly began crawling around again and pulled up his shiny treasure. There were four diving masks. "Yes!" I exclaimed.  
  
"Shiny! Shiny!" Gau said.  
  
"Kind of tight…" I said picking one up and trying it on.  
  
"But it'll work…" Cyan said putting his on. Gau picked one up and put it on. We then walked out the cave to find a cliff and the Serpent Trench's rushing waters beneath us.  
  
Suddenly, Gau became nervous. We just laughed at him and jumped off. Not wanting to be alone, Gau quickly followed.  
  
As the quick waters of the Serpent Trench pushed us towards Nikeah, I felt my heart dancing and I was overjoyed. Finally, it wasn't unrealistic to think I'd be seeing Edgar, and Terra, and Locke again! How much I longed to be near my green-haired girl again!  
  
After only a few minutes of this, we found ourselves drifting around. I pulled myself onto the docks, and helped Cyan and Gau up. We just rested for a few minutes, our bodies weary and tired from fighting in the rapid waters. I then let them stay there and rest as I walked into town. I only had a little money because Gau had thrown 500 valuable GP off the cliff, but it was enough to by a little bit of equipment for our group. I walked back, and we all put on our new armor and walked towards the boat. After explaining our situation, the captain let us ride to South Figaro for free.  
  
"Once we get to South Figaro," I said. "Narshe is just a stone's throw away!" After a while I looked down. "I hope everyone's ok."  
  
"I'm sure they are," Cyan said.  
  
"Me too," Gau added in, actually sounding sincere.  
  
Once we got to South Figaro, we snuck out and went through the small cave west. We then traveled north by Figaro-Oh! How I wanted to visit everyone!- and even more north to Narshe. Our fights were easy, since there were only Leafers.  
  
As we walked into Narshe, my heart pounded wildly. And there was only one thing I could think of…  
  
Is Terra ok? 


	4. Brief Reunion

We walked straight into Narshe. The guard looked a little curiously at Gau as we walked by, but we weren't stopped. "So where do we go from here?" Cyan asked.  
  
"Umm..." I looked around the center. There was Arvis' place. It's possible that everyone could be there. Is everyone even here yet? Are they still alive? Did Locke make it out of South Figaro Ok? Did Banon and Edgar get off of the Lete River Ok? What about Terra? Was Terra safe? Did the Empire get a hold of her?  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"N-nothing," I replied quickly. "Let's check out Arvis' place." Cyan and Gau followed me. I told Cyan and Gau to stay down at the bottom of the stairs as I pounded on Arvis' door. "Anyone in there?!" I yelled. But there was nothing.  
  
"Arvis is at the Elder's place," A citizen told me. I nodded my appreciation to him.  
  
"Sir Gau! I would not touch that-!" Cyan was interrupted by Gau's laughter. I looked down the stairs to see Gau playing with a little machine and Cyan flipping out again.  
  
I laughed walking down to them. "Don't worry, that machine's there just to play with anyway."  
  
"It's still not a good idea to play with machines if you don't know what they'll do!"  
  
"Come on, we've got to get over to the Elder's place." Cyan and Gau nodded. I led them to the other side of the town and walked up more stairs.  
  
I rested my hand on the door knob. What if Terra wasn't in there? What if she wasn't safe? What if she...and Edgar...No! They're not dead! They're alive! I pushed the door open and led Cyan and Gau inside. "Brother!" I exclaimed as I walked in.  
  
"Sabin! You're all right!" Edgar said to me. I nodded to him and looked at Terra. There was a sense of relief in her eyes, and to see her again. Oh goddess to see her again...it was the most indescribable feeling ever.  
  
"Who's with you?" Brother asked, looking at the two people I picked up.  
  
"I'm Cyan, retainer to the lord of Doma!"  
  
"GAU...GAU!" I noticed Terra looked curiously at the two men.  
  
"The people of Doma were wiped out by the Empire..." I regrettably told them.  
  
Cyan looked down. "Kefka poisoned everyone..."  
  
The Elder nearly jumped and yelled. "Barbaric!"  
  
"Elder!" Banon exclaimed.  
  
"But...that was only because Doma was collaborating with the Returners! If we make that mistake..."  
  
"That's nonsense!" A familiar voice shouted walking through the door. Locke was back too! We were all safe! I saw the relief on her face too.  
  
"Locke!" She cried taking a couple steps towards him.  
  
He smiled quickly at her, but then took it off. "The Emperor's poised to attack Narshe now!"  
  
We all jumped in shock. "What?!" My brother exclaimed.  
  
"Locke, where did you hear that?" Banon asked.  
  
"Celes, here, was one of the Empire's generals..."  
  
I watched as Cyan threw Gau aside pushed Terra back. Cyan yelled of how Celes torched Maranda. But Locke stood in between them and stood up for Celes, saying she was a Returner now.  
  
"I was also an Imperial Soldier," Terra stepped out and said quietly. No! Terra! That...wasn't...a good idea. Especially with Cyan...  
  
"WHAT?" Cyan exclaimed. I wanted to hold him back. I wasn't gonna let anyone hurt Terra.  
  
"The Empire is evil, but not all of it's citizens are." Edgar said, trying to rally us together.  
  
A solider suddenly barged through the front door. "Emergency! The Empire cometh!"  
  
"We really have no choice," Elder said after a few long moments. "Let's make ready for war!"  
  
"They're after the Esper," Banon said.  
  
"We moved it to the hills."  
  
"Then we're going up after it!" Edgar said.  
  
As a ragtag army, we all walked up towards the Esper cliff, hoping to protect Narshe and the Esper. As we walked up in a pretty much single line, I felt a couple hands wrap around my arm. I looked down and saw Terra looking at me. That little bit of contact was all the strength I needed. It was almost like she was saying "I missed you." She then let go and had a short conversation with Celes. I liked her. Something about her made her strong yet silent. She didn't seem afraid.  
  
At the top, Banon and Edgar grouped us up. The first group was Edgar, Gau, and Cyan. The second group was Terra and I, while the third group was Locke and Celes. We stood in our positions, each taking about a third of the hills. Terra and I took the east part of the hills.  
  
While we waited for our enemy to advance, we had a small conversation. "Are you Ok?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah," I replied. "A littler battered and bruised, but nothing I can't handle."  
  
"Edgar said that you'd be able to take care of yourself, and that we'd all get back together."  
  
"Well, he knows our abilities all too well I guess."  
  
"I'm really glad you're okay," Terra said softly.  
  
I looked down and smiled at her. "You were worried?" I teased a bit.  
  
"We've got enemies!" She said drawing her sword. I readied myself for a blitz attack. We fought hard against the commanders that walked to us. Eventually I insisted Terra take the back row, so I could take most of the blows. I could handle it. I couldn't handle seeing her get hurt and faint, as she had a couple times. In the small spaces to breath that we had, I tried talking to her, and I know she tried talking to me. We were tired and exhausted, unsure of how to even start talking to each other. There was no point in trying to talk about the weather, considering it was freezing. If only I had my brother's charm! I thought to myself while standing beside her. But we looked at each other, and the look in her eyes...there was a sweet innocence, one that made me feel warm even in the frigid hills of Narshe. I must've smiled, because she smiled back at me. I found myself wanting to hold her more and more, with every passing moment, and felt horribly guilty when I thought 'Well if she gets weakened I can hold her...'.  
  
Our battles continued, and I have to say, not with ease. It was getting harder and harder to protect Banon and keep our own strength up. The next thing I know I see Locke and Celes heading towards Kefka. "They're just in time," my brother called to us. "There's only two left." One towards my brother's group, one towards Terra and I.  
  
Maybe we were too excited, or maybe I was too concentrated on protecting her, but I missed my hits one too many times, which left her to try to cover my mistakes. Trying to be a healer and a fighter at the same time wasn't the smartest choice, but she did it anyway.  
  
Instead of curing herself, she casted Fire on one of the commanders, bringing him down to his knees. Their guard dog rushed forward to Terra, but I jumped in the way to protect her. "Sabin!" She cried as he lunged into me. I winced in pain and fell in front of her. I looked up to see her reaching down next to me.  
  
"Look out!" I shouted to her seeing the weaker commander attack her. As he was attacking, I pushed myself up and clawed across his chest. He fell there. Terra quickly began casting a cure spell on me, but as she was, the other commander came and attacked me. I saw him lunging at me, but if he didn't hit me, he would've hit Terra.  
  
As I fell to the ground, my only thoughts were What the hell are you doing?! Because of your damn infatuation, you screwed it up...You put her in DANGER by not concentrating. If she dies...My thoughts couldn't continue anymore as I struggled to breath the cold air.  
  
The next thing I knew I felt the warmth of a Phoenix Down against my skin. The magic seeped into my body and jump started my heart. I jerked up and coughed a bit of blood, dying the pure snow crimson. My eyes struggled to go into focus, and before I could even bring myself together I felt the tingling of a cure spell on my skin. I sat back to see my brother standing over me and Terra kneeling beside me. She looked at me in worry, but I smiled to reassure her that I was okay now, which caused her to smile. My brother extended his hand out to me and helped me up. "Are you all right Sabin?"  
  
"Well, I guess I am now," I replied and laughed a little.  
  
"Good," Edgar replied and walked back to Cyan. "We're just waiting for Locke and Celes."  
  
"Gau?" I asked.  
  
"He went down to make sure we got all of the soldiers," my brother replied. However he managed to do that, well I guess that's why he's King of Figaro.  
  
I felt a hand on my arm. I turned around and looked at Terra. There was a silence between us. Why did I have to be the quiet one? Why couldn't I say anything to break it? 'Terra," I said quietly. "I...I'm sorry." Smooth Sabin. Real smooth.  
  
"For what?" She asked looking at me.  
  
"I screwed up," I replied. What the hell am I saying?  
  
"It's okay..." She said quietly.  
  
"Good thing Edgar came over huh?"  
  
Suddenly the look in her eyes changed. She looked down and away from me."Yeah...good thing..."  
  
Damn, why am I never good at this?  
  
I tried to say something, something to comfort her. "Well I...thanks for healing me." Her head swung back at me, her green hair wildly swinging about. I couldn't read what was on her face or what her eyes said to me. Seemed like nothing I could do could straighten out whatever I had stupidly said.  
  
"They're back," My brother called to us. Terra walked over to him, and I followed.  
  
"How did it go?" Banon asked.  
  
"He won't be back for a while," Locke replied with a wink.  
  
"Let's go check on the Esper," Banon said, and walked up the hill.  
  
"Shall we?" Edgar asked, following. Scattered, we followed. I only thought of what had happened in that last battle.  
  
We approached the Esper. I've never felt such a strange power, and yet it felt familiar at the same time. The longer I stared at it and felt it's glow against my skin, I realized that it reminded me of Terra's magic.  
  
Suddenly she walked up to the Esper and I knew something wasn't right. They both began to glow, resonating with each other. Locke and Edgar were trying to get her to step away from the Esper. "They're...talking?" I asked myself outloud. A blue bolt of energy suddenly connected the two, and the mass of power knocked us all back. I was so lost in thought that I didn't brace myself well enough, and nearly got knocked off the mountain. I grabbed the side and hung there for a moment or two, watching what was going on. But I nearly fell off when I saw what had happened. She had...she had...  
  
Terra had become the monster in my dream!  
  
We all watched in awe and in confusion. She looked at her hands slowly, studying them very carefully. "Terra..." Celes said quietly trying to approach her. Terra looked over to her and stepped back. Her eyes caught mine. There was nothing but fear and confusion in her eyes, and maybe there was nothing but fear and confusion in mine. She looked at her hands again, looked back at the Esper trapped in ice and screamed, taking off, flying through the air.  
  
I pulled myself up and watching her head to the East, and then the south. My eyes followed, my mind screaming for her to stop. None of said anything, we just watched. Eyes looked around at each other and disbelief of what had happened.  
  
I don't know how long I was staring at the sky, but I finally snapped out of it when my brother pulled at my arm and informed me that we were heading back to Arvis' house to let Locke rest, who had been apparently knocked out, and to regroup.  
  
I looked over my shoulder as we were leaving the peak and heading back to the hills and mines. I couldn't help but feel that the reason she took off was because of me. 


End file.
